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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22858831">Mother's Love and Buir's Protection</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissTeaVee/pseuds/MissTeaVee'>MissTeaVee</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Our Survival is our Strength [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Mandalorian (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Death of a Parent, Gen, How Savii got her name, Mandalorian adoption instinct, parental abandonment</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 19:01:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,012</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22858831</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissTeaVee/pseuds/MissTeaVee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A Mandalorian finds a child shielded in the arms of her dead mother.</p><p>What else is there to do but pick her up and take her home?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Our Survival is our Strength [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1707184</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>100</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Mother's Love and Buir's Protection</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Abara Ranov is Paz’s older (adopted) sibling. They’re AFAB non-binary. Story takes place 25 years ago in canon. Abara is in their mid twenties at this time.</p><p><b>Mando’a</b><br/>Cyar’ika - Sweetheart<br/>Saviin- Violet</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Songs and histories told of glorious war. The noble soldiers on their crusade against evil. Blood spilled, enemies felled, the innocent protected.</p><p>Abara thought that even Mandalorian histories could miss the truth. For they stood amongst ash and ruin, and there was nothing glorious here. There was only despair. Bodies strewn across the streets, some still steaming from the heat of the blaster bolts that killed them. The stench of burned flesh going rotten, for the massacre had lasted several days. Desperate civilians hiding amongst the rubble and ruin, pleading for mercy from uncaring soldiers.</p><p>It was all too familiar to the Mandalorian warrior, but this… before, the loss of their birth clan, the Clone Wars…. The dead had usually been armored warriors. At times, yes, the Separatists had attacked civilians, but they’d generally not made a habit of trying to eradicate populaces. Not like the Empire.</p><p>The Mandalorians had come initially to purchase supplies for their Covert back on Mandalore, only to find a slaughter in progress. Abara knelt to examine the bodies of a Zabrak family, removing a glove to gently check each corpse for a pulse, just in case. All dead, even the children. Snarling to themself, Abara stood. The colony was mostly Zabraks, a few humans, Twi’leks, miscellaneous other species. But it was a world ripe for colonizing and industry, and the Empire had wanted it to add to it’s war machine. It’s precious humans-first war machine.</p><p>The propaganda was already claiming that Empire had liberated these people from their oppressive government. That the local militia had used their own civilians as hostages against the noble Stormtroopers coming to save them. The deaths were regrettable, and Aid would be on it’s way to help the survivor’s rebuilt. The Empire would install factories to renew jobs for the locals, and send in volunteers to help strengthen the colony.</p><p>Here amongst the ruins, Abara walked, looking for something, anything, that could tell them that the Empire hadn’t wiped out everything and everyone.</p><p>A faint noise had the Mandalorian pause, and they looked around, tapping on their vambrace to detect thermal images and spoke, hoping a friendly voice might convince someone to come out. “Is there anyone there?”</p><p>There. A quiet whimper. Abara moved towards the remains of a stone house. Marks of blasters and fire were everywhere, but the earthy construction meant that there’d been little to burn, and as Abara shifted through the rubble, they found a sliver of a heat signature. Movement. They came closer, rubble shifting under their feet. Another little noise, a child’s sob.</p><p>Abara lifted a clump of fallen brick, then another, sifting carefully through the rubble. They found the body of a Zabrak woman, her head caved in by falling masonry. She was on her front, curled protectively around her child, even in death. Her efforts hadn’t been for nothing.</p><p>“There you are, it’s okay,” Abara murmured, switching off their night vision and lifting the corpse. The Zabrak woman’s purple hair was soaked with blood and brain matter. Abara could see bright bruises on the hidden child; purple, black, a waxy yellow. When they saw the child properly, they were surprised to realize the purple was actually the child’s own skin tone. <em> A Twi’lek? </em> Had the Zabrak woman died protecting a child not her own? Abara felt a rush of sadness and warmth towards this stranger now gone as they carefully brought the battered little one to their lap to check over.</p><p>The child whimpered as Abara carefully manipulated small limbs, testing for injuries, checking over the purple head and lekku. They noted in passing strange ridges and bumps on the child’s head, as if the skull under the skin had protrusions. The toddler’s lekku had strange little black things dotted down their backs, and Abara first wondered if they were some kind of piercings, but closer inspection revealed them to be part of the child’s anatomy.</p><p>
  <em> Peculiar. </em>
</p><p>“Are you hurt?” They asked gently, pulling out canteen of water. There was a straw that fit up under their helmet and it kept the container from leaking, so they held it by the child’s mouth. “Here, suck on this, it’s water.”</p><p>The child stared at them with large, uncomprehending eyes. Abara unscrewed the straw-top and splashed a little water into their gloved hand, using it to wipe a little blood away from the child’s face, examining them closely. Human-like ears, though they curled a bit oddly. Abara supposed that marked this child as male, and looked a bit closer at his face, noting small lines around the mouth. They glanced down at the dead Zabrak woman, then at the child again.</p><p> “Is that your mommy?” They asked in their friendliest voice. The child wiped his-their eyes and nodded. Abara nodded sadly, wiping tearstains off the small face. The child looked at their mother’s body, then back to Abara, copper-yellow eyes fearful. The Mandalorian gently pinched the child’s skin on the back of their hand to see how dehydrated they were, and watched as the skin took a long time to return to place. “Oh poor baby, it’s okay… I’m gonna take you somewhere safe and we’ll give you some food and water, okay?”</p><p>No response that indicated understanding. Abara sighed softly, standing with the shell-shocked child still in their arms. Dehydrated for sure, in shock, buried under their mother’s corpse for an indeterminate amount of time; Abara couldn’t blame them for a lack of response. They could have used their jetpack, but instead, the Mandalorian began to walk towards their covert, calling through comms for someone to come get them.</p><hr/><p> </p><p>The child, it transpired, was a girl. Abara held her gently as the medic scanned her for injuries or illness, and confirmed the warrior’s suspicion that the little one was a hybrid. The twi’lek look was undeniable, but those strange lumps on her head, her lekku, and her more human ears had all pointed to hybridization of some kind. A scraping of the Zabarak’s blood, in which the poor child was covered, proved the genetic link between the two.</p><p>“These nubs are hard keratin,” the medic commented, stroking one of the child’s lekku. “It looks like they’re filed down. They might grow out. Hybrids usually do have a few odd health issues, though this one seems fully formed on the inside, no mismatched organs,” he gently plucked the child from Abara’s arms and brought her to a medical table. “The bumps on her head are bony structures, though by her age, a Zabrak’s horns would be protruding past the flesh.”</p><p>Abara followed a few paces behind, though the child hadn’t fussed a bit, only stared. Still, they’d Found the child, and taken her from the ruins of her place of safety. They were responsible for the small lifeform, and Abara took this responsibility seriously. The medic gave the little one an IV drip of fluids and electrolytes, wrapping her arm with bandages to keep the needle in place. “I didn’t dig beyond pulling her from the rubble, I do not know if there’s a father elsewhere.”</p><p>“I’ll run a search against the refugee genetic database from this system,” said the medic. “They’ve already begun their ‘mercy mission.’”</p><p>Abara nodded tersely. The Empire allowed some planetary governments to send in aid to war-torn planets, under strict supervision of course. They required all refugees pass a ‘health check’ that also entered a person’s DNA into a registry. A terrifying concept, but the Mandalorians had taken to slicing it when they could to try and reconnect foundlings with their original families when possible.</p><p>The child let out a small noise, curling in on herself as the fluids and electrolytes stimulated her deprived body. The medic gently stroked the child’s head and down the side of one lek with a thumb as the child started rocking herself and trembling. She leaned into the touch, starting to breathe hard. Abara glanced to the medic, concerned.</p><p>“This is a bit frustrating,” he sighed, pulling his hand back. The child continued to rock herself side to side, until Abara picked her up; the child hid under the Mandalorian’s chin, shaking. “That would’ve settled down a Twi’lek, and a Zabrak toddler might be comforted with pressure on the nubs where their horns are still under the skin, but she is in an unfamiliar place without familiar people. I think the touch helped, and her stimming is her trying to self-soothe as well, but hybrids can be tricky to figure out, her nervous system might have a different set of responses than expected from the look of her.”</p><p>Abara nodded, patting the child’s back. There was a small whimper from the little one over their shoulder. The medic nodded in quiet approval.</p><p>“Once the fluid drip is done, take her to get cleaned up. She has some scrapes and bruises, I’ll give you a little bacta to rub on. Beyond that, some food and rest will do her good. Hopefully you can track down her family.”</p><p>“If her father is dead, should I bring her to a Twi’lek shelter, or a Zabrak one?” Abara wondered. The medic shook his head.</p><p>“Hybrid children rarely thrive without their direct family. She’s been raised on a Zabrak colony, but she looks most like a Twi’lek. No matter what, I suspect she’d have a bad run of things amongst either species. If she doesn’t have a father or adult siblings, she is your responsibility.”</p><p>Abara glanced down, seeing only the thin, nubbed lekku against the girl’s filthy, bloodstained clothes. “So be it. She deserves to be loved.”</p><hr/><p> </p><p>The little one slept fitfully in the cradle Abara had been provided with. In the night, she woke up crying out <em> ‘Mama! </em>’ and shrieked when Abara tried to soothe her. Finally though, exhaustion and the nice-smelling fruit offered to her convinced the little girl to settle down and stuff her little face full. Abara had removed their grey and yellow helmet to sleep, and left it off now, sitting cross-legged on their bed, the child sitting in front of them.</p><p>“Do you want more food?” They asked, when the fruit was finished. The girl looked at her sticky hands, then up at Abara, shaking her head shyly. Abara nodded. “Okay sweetheart. I know you’re scared right now, but don’t worry. I’m going to help you find your father, okay?”</p><p>At the lack of comprehension, Abara tried again. “Your papa? Daddy?”</p><p>The little girl’s yellow eyes brightened at that, and she nodded eagerly. Abara smiled warmly at her. “It might take a long time to find him, if that’s how it goes, then I’ll take care of you until we do, alright? You’re safe with me.”</p><p>The girl nodded again, eyes uncomfortable. She pointed at Abara’s mask, asking a question, though Abara only caught a couple words of it.</p><p>“That’s my mask, I know it’s a little scary, but I’m a Mandalorian, we wear out masks all the time except when sleeping,” They explained. The little girl blinked, but she seemed to understand. Abara decided to ask another question. “Do you know how old you are?”</p><p>The little girl frowned in concentration and held up her right hand with three fingers proudly. Abara smiled at that. “Three! Wow, you’re almost a grown up!”</p><p>A little giggle escaped the hybrid child at that, and she looked up at Abara, sticky hands pressing to the bed’s blankets. Abara took out a cloth and reached for a hand to clean it. The girl hesitated when Abara tried to grasp her fingers, but allowed it. “I’m a big girl! Mommy says so!”</p><p>“Did she? Well, she’s right. You’re going to be very big and strong someday!” Abara praised her with a warm smile. “Can you tell me your name, cyar’ika?”</p><p>The girl blinked owlishly at her. Abara tried a different tack.</p><p>“My name is Abara, what’s yours?”</p><p>“I’m Anite,” said the girl.</p><p>“Anite,” Abara repeated. There was something about that name grinding at the back of their head. “It’s very nice to meet you, Anite.”</p><p>Abara spoke a little Ryl, and they wondered if it was a Twi’leki word the girl was named. Perhaps that was what was bothering them; the word one they’d known before, but couldn’t place since they’d had no need to practice their Ryl in a long time. The shrugged off the thoughts and gently clasped hands with the little one. “I know you’re scared and I’m a stranger to you, but I promise, Anite, that you’re safe with me. I will take care of you like you’re my own child until the day we find your family, or you no longer need me.”</p><p>The girl hugged herself and rocked side to side for a moment, and then looked at Abara, nodding quietly. She held out her arms for a hug, and Abara smiled gently, leaning down and pulling her close. Anite buried herself under her Finder’s chin, and took a deep breath, pressing against the bare skin there. Abara began to hum under their breath, lulling her back to sleep.</p><hr/><p> </p><p>A genetic match. Anite had a parent alive out there somewhere. Abara looked at the datapad and willed away the disappointment that bubbled in their chest. They were <em> not </em> displeased to learn that a person was alive. Just because they’d become attached to the little Twi-Zab cross didn’t mean they had a right to wish that they’d never found the girl’s father.</p><p>A few days of connection were nothing on a family bond.</p><p>They walked down the hall and turned into a sibling’s quarters, smiling to see one of their younger brothers laid on the floor, playing dead as the giggling toddler pulled at the grown man’s pauldron. “Oh no, my baby brother has been slain by the fearsome warrior! Whatever shall I do?”</p><p>Anite looked up, blinking owlishly, then pointed at Fenn’s helmet. “Not me!”</p><p>There was a laugh out of the young warrior, and he sat up, causing the little girl to squeal in surprise, tumbling into his lap. He chuckled, looking up at Abara. “Something wrong, Ori’vod?”</p><p>Abara blinked, looking at the only of their many siblings that was an adult, same as them. “No… I’ve found Anite’s father.”</p><p>“Daddy!?” The girl launched to her feet, looking around. “Where’s daddy?”</p><p>“On another world,” Abara told her gently. “I will take you there, and we will look for him together.”</p><p>Anite nodded brightly, hugging Abara’s leg. Abara gently petted the side of her head and half way down a lek, mindful to avoid the little black keratin nubs that were growing out into little points. Fenn let out a regretful sort of sigh, tilting his helmet knowingly at his sibling. Abara did not let their regret at the soon to be parting from their Foundling show itself.</p><hr/><p> </p><p>Alderaan, of all planets. Good people, Abara thought. Small and wealthy, close to the core, but involved in Galactic politics anyway, offering aid where they could, and giving sanctuary to those who needed it, no matter the origins. It was here that Abara brought their little hybrid Foundling to seek out the child’s father.</p><p>Anite was dressed in the same clothes Abara had found her in, though they were freshly cleaned, the damage to the girl’s leggings and dress carefully mended. The only thing different were the Mandalorian-style boots Abara had coaxed onto the child’s feet. They were sturdy, comfortable things, and Abara would leave them with the child, along with their blessing, when they found Anite’s father.</p><p>It could be tricky for a Mandalorian to move around on a Core World, but Abara was pleasantly surprised as they led the child down tidy streets in the refugee town, finding a distinct lack of military presence, only civic police on occasion. It was no grotto, no temporary camp, but a real home for these displaced people. Abara felt their estimation of the Alderaani people raise yet again.</p><p>Anite’s head swung around, stopping to stare at each blue Twi’lek she saw. Abara smiled under their helmet, knowing from patient questioning that the girl’s father was blue, but little else about him. A few people stared at them curiously, but none approached them. Finally, Abara spotted a Twi’lek in non-police uniform, and approached them.</p><p>“Excuse me, a word?”</p><p>“Ah? Yes, of course?” The aid worker turned to stare that the Mandalorian and their charge. Abara took the young woman in at a glance as the young lady looked at the child with open curiously. “What can I do for you?”</p><p>Abara explained that they’d found the child buried in the rubble with her mother’s body, and that records they’d dug up indicated the child had a living relative who’d been relocated to this town sometime within the last couple days. They were looking for him. “I don’t have a name, unfortunately, but I know that he’s a male twi’lek with blue coloration.”</p><p>“I see,” Said the Aid worker, looking down at the girl with a smile. “Hello Keella, are you looking for your daddy? You’re very lucky that you met a Mandalorian to help you!”</p><p>“Hmm,” Abara smiled under their helmet. “You’re familiar with our ways, I see.”</p><p>“A little, I’ve worked with the Peace Corps long enough to appreciate the work you guys do, though of course, officially I should scold you for working outside Empire jurisdiction.”</p><p>Abara nodded as the Twi’lek lady glanced around nervously, as if the joke had manifested listening ears. “Where would you recommend we start looking for Anite’s father?”</p><p>“...Anite?” Said the Aid worker, smile falling off her face. “Her name is <em> Anite </em>?”</p><p>“Yes,” Said Abara, and the feeling of oddness that had pinged them when the child had first introduced herself rose back up in their mind. Then suddenly, it came to them, in part. <em> -Te </em> was a suffix that turned a word like <em> worth </em> into <em> worthless </em>. A positive word with the -te suffix was made opposite.</p><p>They looked down at the bright-eyed child, who returned their gaze with a trusting, eager smile. Abara tilted their head, unable to smile back. Then they looked back up at the shocked Twi’lek aid worker. “Would you tell me,” they asked, voice carefully neutral, “What Ani means?”</p><hr/><p> </p><p>New refugees had food provided to them at some sort of civic center. From what the aid worker had told them, Abara knew that if they and the little girl waited around outside the entrance, they would find the child’s biological father eventually.</p><p>It was good that the toddler was looking so intensely at each Twi’lek who passed them by, most only glancing nervously in the direction of the Mandalorian and picking up their pace in or out of the building. Abara’s mind was elsewhere, considering the implications of the child’s given name. Perhaps the Zabrak mother had named the girl form a different language? Or the father hadn’t been raised knowing his native tongue? It was unfortunately not unusual for Twi’leks to be separated from their home culture. To name a child something like that on purpose-</p><p>
  <em> “Daddy!” </em>
</p><p>The girl jerked away from Abara’s hand and ran straight at a Twi’lek man in simple clothing. Abara watched silently as he turned and gaped, putting both hands over his mouth as he stared at his child. He knelt down, putting a hand on the girl’s shoulder to stop her when she tried to fling herself into his arms, but his touch was gentle. He looked up, eyes scanning their surroundings, bright with naked hope. Abara sighed softly, knowing what he was looking for. They pushed off the wall and approached, watching how Anite kept reaching for her father and squealing eagerly.</p><p>Passers-by stared, but the Mandalorian’s presence meant no one lingered. The Twi’lek man looked spooked to spot their approach, but Abara paused a polite distance away.</p><p>“I found this little one buried in rubble,” They told him. “My Creed bid me to return her to her family if at all possible, and here you are.”</p><p>“I…” He looked down at the little girl. “My girlfriend?”</p><p>“I’m sorry, she died protecting your child,” Abara told him. “She was wrapped around Anite, she shielded her from falling rubble.”</p><p>He slumped unhappily, tears falling, his hand falling from Anite’s shoulder, allowing the girl to finally press in close and nestle against his chest. He did not wrap his arms around her, but Abara didn’t judge him for grief. So stated, they wouldn’t leave until they clarified the little one’s name. They needed to know. Anite was tugging her father’s shoulders, insistently asking ‘Daddy up! Daddy up!”</p><p>The Twi’lek murmured something in Ryl, and Abara’s blood ran hot, all at once. “My Twi’leki is rough. Please correct me if I’m wrong that you said that you’d have preferred the mother lived and the child died.”</p><p>“I- I,” The Man looked up, at the Mandalorian, standing up and leaving the frustrated toddler on the ground. Anite whined, clinging to his leg. “I never wanted to be a father, but Jepi was so happy… she was good with… with the baby. But I can’t have a half breed child. Not without her. I never wanted this.”</p><p>Anite stared up at the Man, tugging his sleeve with wide, confused eyes. “Daddy?”</p><p>“I understand that you’re grieving,” Abara said slowly, fury bubbling up in their chest. “But consider what you’re saying. Your beloved gave everything for this child. This is all that’s left of her.”</p><p>“I know,” he said, staring down at the child. Anite held up her arms beseechingly, and Abara could see the little one’s confusion and fear as she was not comforted. “I… I know…”</p><p>“You named your daughter <em> Undesired, </em>” Abara growled as the pieces fell into place, voice growing cold. “If I left her with you, she’d be placed in an orphanage, wouldn’t she?”</p><p>“I can’t… I can’t keep her. Not without Jepi,” He said, looking up at the Mandalorian and cringing back when Abara took a step forward. The Child whined, trying to follow him.</p><p>“Daddy, I want up please!” whimpered the girl, tugging on his sleeve. “Daddy?”</p><p>“Why not?” Asked Abara, advancing further. The man shrank away, and the child still tried to follow him, seeking comfort.</p><p>“She won’t be welcome, I wouldn’t be welcome with my people. They look down on halfbreeds. A lover of a difference species is one thing, but a halfbreed child? I’d be reviled. I can’t keep her, I never even wanted her!”</p><p>Anite recoiled as if hit, staring up at the man who’d provided the building blocks that led to her birth, her yellow eyes filling with tears. She wailed, tears rolling down her cheeks, seeking comfort from him, even now. He twitched as if he might have offered it, and then stepped back again. Abara stepped forward, this time to scoop up the tantruming toddler, pulling her little face under their helmet.</p><p>“If it were not for the fact that it’d traumatize this child further,” Abara said, picking their words carefully through the rage that rolled through them. “I’d kill you where you stand, <em> coward. </em>”</p><p>The Twi’lek recoiled like he was about to run. Abara shifted backwards a little, turning focus to the little girl. Not <em> Anite </em>, they couldn’t call the little one that; not knowing what it meant. Even through the T-visor, Abara’s glare held the man captive when they glanced back at him. “I-I…”</p><p>“You can consider yourself lucky,” Abara said, rubbing the toddler’s back, hatred for this coward vibrating though them, though they tried to stay calm for the little one’s sake. “While I am mandated to reunite children with their families above all else, if it’s proven that a child has no family, then they become the responsibility of their Finder. As it turns out, this little one may have genetic parentage here, but no family. So she will be as my daughter, and she <em> will </em>be loved.”</p><p>They turned away from the Twi’lek, adjusting their new daughter so she wouldn’t have to look at her sperm donor as Abara walked away. The little one- Abara would call her Ani for now- sobbed against the Mandalorian’s cowl.</p><p>“Daddy… I want daddy… want mama…”</p><p>“I’m sorry, cyar’ika… I’m sorry,” They murmured, not sparing a glance for the utter disappointment behind them. “It’s okay, I’ll take care of you now. I’ll be your mama and your papa all in one.”</p><p>The turned down a side street and found the kind Twi’lek aid worker from before. She took in the scene; Abara carrying the sobbing child, the Mandalorian’s posture furious.</p><p>“I guess you… you didn’t find her father?” she asked timidly. Abara shook their head, controlling their fury for the little one’s sake.</p><p>“No, it seems she never had one at all.”</p><hr/><p> </p><p>Once the ship was underway towards Mandalore, Abara sighed, setting the autopilot and stepping away from the controls to check on the little one.</p><p>The little hybrid was curled up in Abara’s bunk, sniffling quietly, wrapped around a pillow. Abara gently ran a gloved hand over the child’s head, between her lekku.</p><p>“Hey sweetheart,” they murmured. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”</p><p>“Want mama,” the girl sobbed. Abara nodded, rubbing her back.</p><p>“I know, I know. I wish I could bring her back for you,” they said. “Little one... Ani, look at me.”</p><p>No response, but for a small sob, the girl curling tighter around the pillow. Abara sighed, gathering her up into their arms, pillow and all. “Anite.”</p><p>The word tasted foul, but it got the child’s attention. She looked up at her Finder with stricken eyes. Abara gently brushed the tears away with their thumbs, and the girl leaned into the touch, desperate for comfort.</p><p>“I know I’m not your mama, but I promise that I’ll take care of you. I’ll be like her, I’ll protect you and love you the way she did, and she’ll know you’re safe even though she can’t be at your side anymore, alright?”</p><p>The little one nodded slowly, burying her face in the pillow. Abara rubbed over one of the nubs on her skull. They decided to go ahead and ask the question they wanted to.</p><p>“I know you’re used to being called Anite, but it’s not a nice word that your… father, named you. It’s not true, and I don’t want to call you a word that means <em> unwanted </em>. I can call you Ani, or we can give you a new name, one that your mother would really like, if we can think it up together.”</p><p>Copper-yellow eyes peeked up from the pillow, staring at Abara. The Mandalorian removed their helmet and smiled at her. The child watched as the helmet was placed off to the side, then returned her gaze to Abara. She nodded shyly, still half-hidden by the pillow.</p><p>“Yes? You do want a new name?”</p><p>Nod.</p><p>That was a relief, to be honest. Abara smiled, looking her over. “Well, your mama was named Jepi, do you want that name?”</p><p>The child hesitated, then shook her head. Abara hummed, tapping a gloved finger against their vambrace.</p><p>“How about something that Jepi loved about you?” They asked. “Your mama loved you very much, didn’t she?”</p><p>A nod out of the little one, eyes shining. Abara watched as the child’s left lek flexed slowly, then turned their attention back to the child’s face.</p><p>“What was your mama’s favorite thing about you?”</p><p>The little girl blinked, the pillow falling into her lap. She rubbed at her eyes, pressing closer to Abara and holding up a hand.</p><p>“All of you? Makes sense too me,” Abara said playfully. The little one giggled at that, hiding against the Mandalorian’s chest plate. “What’s something she said was very good about you. Your heart? Kar’ta?”</p><p>A shrug of confusion, the girl waving her arm and pointing at it. “Mama’s color and mine.”</p><p>“Ah?” Abara blinked, trying to remember details about the Zabarak. Had the woman’s hair been purple? It was a known shade for the species… They looked down at the child the rich violet shade of her; rare for a Twi’lek, mottled with little blue freckles down her lekku and knees. Abara thought the markings might turn into stripes as the child aged, but they didn’t know for certain. “Oh, your purple?”</p><p>The little one nodded eagerly. Abara smiled, catching the little one’s waving hand and inspecting it. She was a beautiful color, they thought, though they doubted that it was truly her mother’s absolute favorite thing about the winsome little girl. Still, it’d work. “Okay, how about Violet? Or in Mando’a, Saviin?”</p><p>“Sah-vii?” The girl mimicked, blinking up at Abara owlishly. Abara laughed.</p><p>“Saviin.”</p><p>“Savii!” The girl giggled, pointing at her arm. Abara shrugged with a small smile.</p><p>“Savii does sound a bit more like a name, I suppose. Do you like it?”</p><p>A giggle and nod. Abara’s smile was warm and fond as they tweaked the little nose.</p><p>“Then you will be Savii, daughter of Jepi, and daughter of mine,” They said. “<em> Ni kar’tayli gai sa’ad, </em>Savii; I know your name as my child. You are mine, forever and always, to cherish and protect. I am your buir.”</p><p>“Boo-eer?” The girl asked, looking up at her Finder with big eyes.</p><p>“Mother, Father, both at once,” Abara said. “My family is yours now.”</p><p>“You want me?” The girl asked timidly. Abara nodded, planting a kiss on her forehead so the rage in their eyes wouldn’t show. How dare that coward of a man help bring a child into this world and not care for it? A Toddler should never have been treated as a burden. She should never have known what it was to be left behind.</p><p>“How could I not?” They asked her tenderly, pushing away the darkness so they could offer their daughter Light. “You are a child, you need me. I can do nothing less than love you.”</p><p>Little Savii blinked up at them, and snuggled close. “Bu?”</p><p>“Yes,” they murmured, nuzzling noses with the child. “I am your Buir, and you’re my daughter. Now and forever.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p><b>Mando’a</b><br/>Cyar’ika - Sweetheart<br/>Saviin- Violet</p><p> </p><p><b>Ryl</b><br/>Ani- desired<br/>Te- ‘less’ suffix that turns a word into its opposite, as it were.<br/>Keella - Darling</p><p> </p><p>Savii doesn't remember much about this time period. She has vague recollections of the feeling of love and warmth from her mother, a sharper memory of her father rejecting her at the refugee center, and little else. She was three, after all.</p><p>(Mandalorian foundlings celebrate either the day they were Found or the day they were officially adopted as their birthday, if their actual date of birth isn't known. So Savii's fourth birthday was the 1-year anniversary of the day Abara adopted her.)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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